Source: Voice of America
The Taliban takeover of neighboring Afghanistan in August forced more than 300,000 Afghans to take shelter in Pakistan but now most of them are being asked to go back.
‘The Taliban say they’ll kill me if they find me’: a female reporter still on the run speaks out
Source: The Guardian
We return to the story of a journalist forced to flee as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August. Unable to return home without putting at risk everyone she loves and hounded by threatening calls, she remains in hiding in the country four months on
Taliban rule marked by killings, ‘litany of abuses’, UN says
Source: Al Jazeera
The United Nations says it has received “credible allegations” of extrajudicial killings of more than 100 former Afghan national security forces and others associated with Afghanistan’s former government since its fall three months ago, with most taking place at the hands of the ruling Taliban.
Afghan health system ‘close to collapse due to sanctions on Taliban’
Source: The Guardian
Large parts of Afghanistan’s health system are on the brink of collapse because of western sanctions against the Taliban, international experts have warned, as the country faces outbreaks of disease and an escalating malnutrition crisis.
US officially allows remittance payments back to Afghanistan, despite sanctions on Taliban
Source: The Independent
The US has formally authorised personal remittance payments to Afghanistan, a crucial lifeline as millions in the country face extreme hunger after the Taliban takeover of the government and the international community continues to sanction the new regime.
Recognition of Taliban cabinet depends on entire international community — envoy
Source: Tass
KABUL, December 12. /TASS/. The recognition of the Taliban [outlawed in Russia] government of Afghanistan depends on the international community, Ambassador of Pakistan to Kabul Mansoor Ahmad Khan told TASS Saturday.
Foreign Office chaotic during Kabul evacuation – whistleblower
Source: BBC
The UK Foreign Office’s handling of the Afghan evacuation after the Taliban seized Kabul was dysfunctional and chaotic, a whistleblower has said.
Raphael Marshall said the process of choosing who could get a flight out was arbitrary and thousands of emails with pleas for help went unread.
The Secret History of the U.S. Diplomatic Failure in Afghanistan
Source: The New Yorker
On April 14th, President Joe Biden ended the longest war in United States history, announcing that the last remaining American troops in Afghanistan would leave by September 11th. In the following weeks, the Taliban conquered dozens of rural districts and closed in on major cities. By mid-June, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan—the brittle democratic state built by Afghan modernizers, NATO soldiers, and American taxpayers after the 9/11 attacks—appeared to be in a death spiral. Yet its President, Ashraf Ghani, insisted to his cabinet that the Republic would endure. In every meeting, “he assured us, and encouraged us,” Rangina Hamidi, the acting minister of education, said. Ghani reminded them, “America didn’t make a promise that they would be here forever.”
William tells Afghan refugees ‘you couldn’t be more welcome’ in the UK
Source: The Independent
The Duke of Cambridge has praised the bravery of Afghan refugees starting new lives in the UK, saying “you couldn’t be more welcome”.
William talked to Afghans who risked their lives to work for the British Government and their families, telling them on Tuesday: “Thank you for all you have done for us.”
What my 20 years in Afghanistan taught me about the Taliban – and how the west consistently underestimates them
Source: The Conversation
It was April 1995, and I was preparing to travel to Afghanistan for my first volunteer post with a UK charity. I had travelled to London to meet the Afghanistan director for the non-governmental organisation (NGO) I was going to be working for and now sat in their tiny office facing him. My father had travelled to Afghanistan in the 1970s and loved it. His stories had mesmerised me. After years of dreaming about going to Afghanistan, I would finally be on my way.